Looking for recommendations on a rail-mounted reflex sight that will hold up on my 870 shooting slugs, birdshot, buckshot, whatever.. I doubt I'll be trying to shoot anything past 75 yards. Budget is $200.

One sight I've been considering is the Mueller Quick Shot (http://www.muelleroptics.com/products/MQS12233.html). I like this configuration, but I'm not sure about the quality... I know Mueller has a decent reputation, but there are so many different brands selling identical looking sights it's hard to tell what I'm getting. It looks just like the $40-$75 "el cheapo" reflex sights, with the exception of the light sensors at the front.
I don't know if its just overpriced by 3x, or actually of better quality than those.
I lost the link, but I also saw one that looked identical for $250 or so another brand... Hard to tell what's a cheap Chinese knockoff and what's decent...

Note that I don't need a lot of features, I just want a basic reflex sight that'll work alright up to 75 yards and not get broken to pieces from shotgun recoil.

I would find any comments about reflex sights you've owned (regardless of price) very helpful.

During Y2K my neighbor and I were talking and he said he had a basement full of water and canned food. He asked if I had stocked up and I said that I had. I told him I bought a 12 guage shotgun, a .308 rifle and several bricks of .22 ammo.

He is an anti-gun guy and he said. "Well, you can't eat ammunition". I replied with "When I'm starving to death with a case of ammunition, who's door do you think I am going to knock on?"

while i am not a big fan of the 'cheap' reflex type sights, i do agree that a shotgun with mounted optic is BLISS. if you think a 2 gallon water jug @ 100 yards is good try a static target at the same distance while standing.. its amazing how much better you can shoot with the right set of tools. it can bring out the best in the gun and the worst in the shooter!

i plan on utilizing my eotech on my 590 from time to time. (since i can not afford multiple sets of optics i will be transitioning my 511 to multiple platforms)

The single-color reticles look alright, but I didn't like the ones with the switchable green/red color. The coating on the green/red sights reflects a lot of ambient light, making it very hard to see through the sight in all but the most ideal conditions (you in an unlit room, target in a bright area).

I ordered one from OpticsPlanet and will begin testing its durability next weekend. At $40, it can't hurt to try it.

First impressions... Unfortunately, Sightmark uses the dual-color reflective coating even on their red-only sights, unlike Aim Sports Inc., who use a lens with better transmittance on the red-only sights.
This makes it noticeably harder to look through the lens because it has a green/red tint. The Aim Sports Inc. red sight ($49) I tested at the Ventura Gun Show was far easier to look through, while the lens on the red/green Aim Sports sight looked like the Sightmark I got today.

The Sightmark's reticles are also a bit less crisp than the red-only Aim Sports sight, and I think it's due to the coating. Since this is just going on a shotgun, I really don't care about how sharp the reticle is, but it's worth noting.

While getting my equipment ready for tomorrow I discovered that the picatinny rail that came with my Mesa Tactical setup mounts to the Mesa Tactical adapter -- not the receiver. Since I don't have a grip yet for the Mesa Tactical adapter, I can't use it! I need to wait for my grip to come in, or find/make a different rail set up so I can mount this before testing.
Now I regret not buying the receiver-mounted scope mount I saw at the Ventura Gun Show.. I'll keep an eye out at my local stores to see if they have something that will work, or hopefully my grip will get here soon..

If the cheap models to end up letting you down (knock on wood), if you can stretch $40 past your budget you can get a Bushnell holosight like mine pictured below. It takes a beating and still works. Only problem is it's size compared to the smaller/cheaper reflex sights.

You get what you pay for.
I doubt those cheapo red dots will hold up well for long, you should really consider putting a little $$$ into a quality product, especially if you are betting your life on it.

I will be buying the Bushnell or Eotech if/when the cheap one fails. Not betting my life on shooting 100 yard slugs, or birdhost at clay pigeons :-P.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emrivera1

If the cheap models to end up letting you down (knock on wood), if you can stretch $40 past your budget you can get a Bushnell holosight like mine pictured below. It takes a beating and still works. Only problem is it's size compared to the smaller/cheaper reflex sights.

I have a Mossberg 590 that I attached a rail on the receiver and installed a cheap NC Star red dot sight on it because the brass bead doesn't really work for me.
At first I was really leary of running this Chicom stuff on my good ole Yankee shotgun but luck,fate and or the gun gods have blessed me with a really tough little sight that I considered disposable. Lots of rounds and only change batts not the zero.
Looks like a Dr. Optic unit and runs on one cr2032 battery.
Not a first choice but a decent cheap one.
My 2 cents.

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